1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wave-dissipating block, and more particularly to a wave-dissipating block for constructing a breakwater and efficiently converting wave energy into electric power.
2. Description of Related Art
Enormous energy is contained in the ocean in types of ocean currents, tides and waves, so how to efficiently utilize the energy contained in the ocean is an important subject. Currently, there are several different types of apparatus have been developed to convert potential kinetic energy contained in the waves into electric power.
With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, a conventional apparatus that utilizes waves for generating electric power is equipped in an offshore ship and has a body (90). The body (90) is made of metal, is hollow and has an upper component, a lower component, an air chamber, an inlet channel (91), an outlet channel (92) and an activating chamber (93) and has a turbine generator (94).
The air chamber is formed in the lower component of the body (90) and is divided into two an inlet minor air chamber (95) and an outlet minor air chamber (96). The inlet and outlet minor air chambers (95, 96) both have an open bottom (951, 961) and atop opening (952, 962). The open bottom (951, 961) is submerged such that surface of the sea is received in the minor air chamber (95, 96) and waves are allowed to rise and fall in the minor air chamber (95, 96).
With further reference to FIG. 9, when waves in the minor air chamber (95, 96) rise, air in the minor air chamber (95, 96) is forced to pass out of the top opening (952, 962) of the minor air chamber (95, 96) because air pressure in the minor air chamber (95, 96) is increased.
With further reference to FIG. 8, when waves in the minor air chamber (95, 96) fall, air outside the minor air chamber (95, 96) is sucked to pass into the minor air chamber (95, 96) because air pressure in the minor air chamber (95, 96) is decreased.
The inlet channel (91) is formed in the upper component of the body (90), communicates with the top opening (952) of the inlet minor air chamber (95) and has an inlet valve (911). The inlet valve (911) communicates with outside and is one-way for air outside the body (90) to pass into the inlet channel (91). The outlet channel (92) is formed in the upper component of the body (90), communicates with the top opening (962) of the out let minor air chamber (95) and has an outlet valve (921). The outlet valve (921) communicates with outside and is one-way for discharging air inside the body (90).
The activating chamber (93) is formed in the upper component of the body (90) between the inlet channel (91) and the outlet channel (92) and has an air inlet (931) and an air outlet (932). The air inlet (931) communicates with the inlet channel (91). The air outlet (932) communicates with the outlet channel (92). Thus, air in the inlet channel (91) is allowed to pass into the outlet channel (92) through the activating chamber (93).
The turbine generator (94) has a turbine fan (941) and a generator (94). The turbine fan (941) is mounted in the air inlet (931) of the activating chamber (93) to be driven by air flowing through the air inlet (931). The generator (94) is mounted in the activating chamber (93) and is connected to and driven by the turbine fan (941) to convert kinetic energy into electric power.
When waves in the minor air chambers (95, 96) rise, the inlet valve (911) is closed and the outlet valve (921) is open, such that air in the minor air chambers (95, 96) is force to pass out of the outlet valve (921), wherein air in the inlet minor air chamber (95) passes through the activating chamber (93) to rotate to the turbine fan (941) to drive the generator (942) to generate electric power.
When waves in the minor air chambers (95, 96) fall, the inlet valve (911) is open and the outlet valve (921) is closed, such that air outside the body (90) is sucked into the minor chamber (95, 96) through the inlet valve (911), wherein part of the air passes through the activating chamber (93) to rotate to the turbine fan (941) to drive the generator (942) to generate electric power.
Because the waves never stop rising and falling, the generator (942) operates at all times to convert kinetic energy contained in the waves into electric power. Substantially, kinetic energy contained in the waves is transmitted along the surface of the sea. However, the open bottoms (951, 961) of the minor air chambers (95, 96) are formed to face downward, such that crests and troughs of the waves are easy to be blocked and dissipated by the body (90) and are hard to completely pass into the minor air chambers (95, 96) through the open bottoms (951, 961). Thus, a drop height of the waves in the minor air chambers (95, 96) is inefficient so that the turbine fan (941) can not be effectively rotated. Accordingly, the generator (942) is unable to efficiently generate electric power.
Additionally, the body (90) made of metal frequently contacts with seawater and is easily rusted.
With reference to FIG. 10, another conventional apparatus that utilizes waves for generating electric power is built on an inshore cliff and has a body (80), a shelter (81) and a turbine generator (82). The body (80) is mounted on the cliff, is hollow and has an outer wall, an open bottom (801) and an open top (802). The open bottom (801) is hung in the air above surface of the sea in default condition. The shelter (81) is mounted on the outer wall of the body (80), extends downward to submerge into the sea and forms an air chamber (811) between the shelter (81) and the cliff under the body (80). When crests of waves arrive in the air chamber (811), air in the air chamber (811) is forced into the body (80) through the open bottom (801) and passes out of the open top (802).
The turbine generator (82) is mounted in the open top (802) of the body (80) and has a turbine fan (821) and a generator (822). The turbine fan (821) is mounted in the open top (802) of the body (80) and is rotated by the air passing through the open top (802). The generator (822) is connected and driven by the turbine fan (821) to generate electric power.
Likewise, due to nonstop waves, the generator (822) operates at all times to generate electric power. However, the open bottom (801) of the body (10) is also formed to face downward, so that wave crests are blocked and dissipated by the shelter (81) before arriving in the air chamber (811). Accordingly, air in the air chamber (811) and the body (80) can not be effectively forced to rotate the turbine fan (821) to make the generator (822) inefficient to generate electric power.
With reference to FIG. 11, an another apparatus that utilizes waves for generating electric power is also built on an inshore cliff and has a body (70) and a turbine generator (71). The body (70) has a front, a rear, a top, a bottom, an air chamber (702), a wave inlet (701) and an air outlet (703). The air chamber (702) is formed in the body (70). The wave inlet (701) is formed in the front of the body (70) near the bottom of the body (70) and is located under surface of the sea such that waves can arrive in the air chamber (702) through the wave inlet (701) to forced air in the air chamber (702) upward. The air outlet (703) is formed in the rear of the body (70) near the top of the body (70) and is located above the surface of the sea. Rising air pushed by the waves in the air chamber (702) is finally forced to pass out of the air outlet (703).
The turbine generator (71) is mounted in the air outlet (703) of the body (70) and has a turbine fan (711) and a generator (712). The turbine (711) is mounted in the air outlet (703) of the body (70) to be rotated by the air passing through the air outlet (703). The generator (712) is connected to and is driven by the turbine fan (711) to generate electric power.
The nonstop waves continuously push the air in the air chamber (702) to rotate the turbine fan (711), such that the generator (712) is capable of generating electric power at all times. Although the wave inlet (701) is formed toward front, wave crests are still blocked and dissipated by the front of the body (70) above the wave inlet (701). Thus, most kinetic energy contain in the wave crests is still can not be transmitted into the air chamber (702). Consequently, air in the air chamber (702) can not be effectively push upward and the generator (712) is unable to efficiently generating electric power.
Therefore, the invention provides a bolt for spectacles to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.